Aïn Témouchent | |
Native Name: | عين تموشنت |
Native Name Lang: | ar |
Mapsize: | 180px |
Pushpin Map: | Algeria |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 300px |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Aïn Témouchent within Algeria |
Coordinates: | 35.3°N -9°W |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Algeria |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Type2: | District |
Seat Type: | District seat |
Leader Title: | PMA Seats |
Leader Name: | 11 |
Unit Pref: | Metric |
Area Total Km2: | 78.93 |
Elevation M: | 296 |
Population Footnotes: | [1] |
Population Total: | 75558 |
Population As Of: | 2010 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone1: | CET |
Utc Offset1: | +01 |
Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
Postal Code: | 46000 |
Blank Name: | ONS code |
Blank Info: | 4601 |
Blank1 Name: | Climate |
Blank1 Info: | Csa |
Aïn Témouchent (ar|عين تموشنت) is a city in north-western Algeria, it is the capital of Aïn Témouchent Province. Aïn Témouchent is located 72 km (or 44.7 miles) south-west of Oran, a city with which it is closely associated, and 63 km (or 39.1 miles) west of Sidi Bel Abbès. Known as "la Florissante", it is set in a narrow, fertile basaltic valley amid vineyards and orchards. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 75,558.
The town was founded in 1851 by Spanish immigrants, who built on what had been the site of Roman Albulae and Arab Ksar ibn Senar.[2] It was made the capital of the local subprefecture in 1955, and then the capital of the wilaya Aïn Témouchent in 1983. Prior to the end of colonization, the region was a large producer of wine.
In 1999, the town was devastated by a large earthquake. A loan of 83.5 million USD granted by the World Bank to the Algerian government enabled the rapid reconstruction of the city, among the best developed in Algeria: a new city, a hospital, a one-hectare public garden, were built and inaugurated in December 2003.